The 2nd International Research Symposium of Uva Wellassa University (IRSUWU 2018) was successfully held on February 1-2, 2018 at Uva Wellassa University Premises. The inaugural session of the research symposium was presided by the Vice Chancellor of Uva Wellassa University, Dr. J.L. Ratnasekara. Mr. H.M.B.C. Herath, Additional Secretary, Mr. P.M. Dharmatilake, Project Director of Ministry of Science, Technology and Research participated to grace the inaugural session representing the Hon. Minister Susil Premajayantha. The Project Director – COSTI, Prof. Ajith de Alwis was the Guest of Honour who delivered a speech on Nature – The Final Frontier. The inaugural session was followed by a plenary session where three distinguished guest speakers. Prof. L.C. De Silva (Brunei), Prof. Girish Nath Jha (India) and Prof. Shireen Assem (Egypt) delivered keynote speeches on “Smart Homes, Internet of Things and Leading to Internet of Trees”, “India’s Diversity: Challenges for Big Linguistic Data and Language Informatics”, “Molecular Breeding and Genome Editing: Modern Opportunities for Food Security”, respectively in the inaugural session that was chaired by Prof. Ajith de Alwis.
The Technical Sessions for 12 thematic areas were conducted after the plenary session. 425 presenters are supposed to present their research finding either as oral or poster presentations. The programme on February 1, 2018 was concluded with a Dinner and a Cultural Show. The Day 2 of IRSUWU 2018, February 2, 2018 commenced continuing oral presentation sessions and poster presentation session II. Keynote speakers also chaired some selected technical sessions. All the presenters received a “Certificate of Participation”.
A workshop on “Market your research output through IPR & Commercialization” conducted by Prof. T. Dias (NSF, Sri Lanka) and Dr. M. Sandirigama (University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka) in the afternoon, was followed by the closing ceremony where four of UWU academics presented their recent research works in a session chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Dr. J.L. Ratnasekera.
Best presenters for both oral and poster presentations of each track received their medals and certificates in the closing ceremony. UWU academics who published their research works in indexed and non-indexed journals in 2016 were also awarded.
February 3, 2018, was the last day of IRSUWU 2018 and the symposium tour took place. It was a trip to the Horton Plains via Nuwara Eliya. A group of 30 including keynote speakers and other guests participated. The group could enjoy a fresh cup of tea just came out of the factory at Pedro Tea Factory in Nuwara Eliya. By the midday, the group reached the Horton Plains and enjoyed the gorgeous environment and cold climate.

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